Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello has announced plans to perform at the Occupy Wall Street protest at noon [today] in Manhattan. Morello, who has previously performed at the Occupy Los Angeles rally, will play a solo set as the Nightwatchman.

"The Nightwatchman will Occupy Wall Street [today] at noon, adding one more voice to the growing chorus of millions demanding economic justice at home and around the globe," Morello tells Rolling Stone. "And I'll be playing some songs. Likely in the rain."

We get why the Rage Against the Machine guitarist would show up at Occupy Wall St, but why Comic Con? Well, Comixcorner.com says:

Tom Morello's graphic novel Orchid, which tells the tale of a 16-year-old street prostitute in a dystopian future, will be released in twelve issues through Dark Horse Comics will be on sale October 12th. Orchid features a variant cover by the well-known and influential street artist Shepard Fairey, with interior art by Scott Hepburn (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic).

"Orchid is part Suicide Girl, part Joan of Arc, who becomes the Spartacus of Whores in a story that merges the epic scope of Lord of the Rings with the politics of street terrorism." - Tom Morello

Headlined by DJ Z-Trip, the concert is free to all VIP's and 4-Day ticket holders BUT seating is first come, first served and will be extremely limited due to size of the auditorium and popularity of the event. Ultimate Access, Special Access and Anime Access VIP ticket holders will be guaranteed to get into the show first; then, 4-Day ticket holders will be let in until the auditorium is full. The concert is open to all 4-Day ticket holders on a first come, first served basis and we cannot guarantee that all 4-Day ticket holders that want to attend the show will be able to get in.

"I'm stoked and honored to be playing alongside Tom Morello at the New York Comic Con. He's one of my favorite guitarists of all time, and I've always admired the level of consciousness he brings to the table. This show is gonna be great. Can't wait to read his new comic too." - DJ Z-Trip

Tom Morello is appearing courtesy of Dark Horse Comics, New York Comic Con and Midtown Comics - who will be selling Orchid #1 exclusively at the Kick-Off Concert.

(Reuters) - Anti-Wall Street protesters say the rich are getting richer while average Americans suffer, but the group that started it all may have benefited indirectly from the largesse of one of the world's richest men.

There has been much speculation over who is financing the disparate protest, which has spread to cities across America and lasted nearly four weeks. One name that keeps coming up is investor George Soros, who in September debuted in the top 10 list of wealthiest Americans. Conservative critics contend the movement is a Trojan horse for a secret Soros agenda.

Soros and the protesters deny any connection. But Reuters did find indirect financial links between Soros and Adbusters, an anti-capitalist group in Canada which started the protests with an inventive marketing campaign aimed at sparking an Arab Spring type uprising against Wall Street. Moreover, Soros and the protesters share some ideological ground.

"I can understand their sentiment," Soros told reporters last week at the United Nations about the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, which are expected to spur solidarity marches globally on Saturday.

Pressed further for his views on the movement and the protesters, Soros refused to be drawn in. But conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh summed up the speculation when he told his listeners last week, "George Soros money is behind this."

Soros, 81, is No. 7 on the Forbes 400 list with a fortune of $22 billion, which has ballooned in recent years as he deftly responded to financial market turmoil. He has pledged to give away all his wealth, half of it while he earns it and the rest when he dies.

"Morello will be the third major act to perform at the protest. Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum ..."

Jeff Mangum is a major act? He is a nobody. His recent shows are all sell-outs because I a lot of people want to be able to say "I saw Mangum". If he went on tour, he will be playing tiny venues AGAIN. NMH were not big in their heyday.

Even if 11:22's rabidly speculative article holds water, there's a major difference between a George Soros and a Koch brother. But as it stands, the article is specious and without substance. (Sources include baseless speculation by "conservative critics," Rush Limbaugh and...Reuters.)

To the troll who write 11:22 / 11:40 - you're arguments are weak and your "movement" is being exposed by the minute.

Don't quit that day job just yet, troll. And don't piss off your capitalist bosses, 'cause they can find a replacement "secretary at a small post production facility" in about 3 seconds (probably from the same folks you are protestinating with)

11:47 regarding your comments on replacing me, can we call you captain obvious? i protest because 30% of my salary is going to 2 wars. is that wrong? unamerican?
i am dying for you to bestow your infinite knowledge.

1124 of course Mangum is major. are you serious? well known = major. sells out several nyc area shows = major. i don't care if you think he's on his way out, that's just your opinion. you're just making a false point

free immigration! free magazines! make the water free! reduce the air carbon! take back the streets from the oneper sent! bloomberg is king koopa roundherr! going commi-crazy! i miss my mom. wheres chuck d?

11:17- please tell me you aren't one of those idiots who thinks that Soros is behind all of the evils in the world... I don't remember Limbaugh turning his inquisitive eye towards the Koch Brothers who are behind the Tea Party Movement...

lol 12:57 - you mean convicted felon insider trading 1/10 of 1% George Sorros? The one that has a bank of lawyers (along with Warren Buffet) that argue why he shouldn't pay his back taxes, that George Sorros?

I just want to make sure we're talking about the same guy. Wouldn't want to get the George Sorros criminal I know with another one that actually contributes to the well being of this country.

I saw Tom M. on Bill Maher a couple of weeks ago... he seemed to be an extremly bright individual, well spoken, and very grounded in reality.

I was never a huge RATM fan (not a hater ...just didn't grab me at the time) , but I am glad to him down there and if there would be any type of famous musician to show up he seems to be an appropriate one. It's not like this is his irst protest or first time he's supported this sort of thing.

Hummus, trolley trolligan, frobitch, I hate you all, I love you all...peace.

How is the movement funded by anyone? The protesters aren't being paid. It's all people voluntarily coming out and donations are coming from individuals all over to show their support. Adbusters may have organized it initially, but they don't control the message or the agenda, and virtually every state has individually formed their own occupations of their own accord. I don't know anything about the ties between Soros and Adbusters, but it kinda sounds like bullshit. I don't understand how anyone could by opposed to such a basic, albeit vague, movement centered around the idea of the wealthiest 1% of politicians and corporate executives abusing the working class. At least some of us are willing to stand up for what we believe in rather than just sit online and anonymously bitch about everything wrong with the world.

1:54 you are adorable.
all together now ...
"Everything is beautiful in it's own way.
Like the starry summer night, or a snow-covered winter's day.
And everybody's beautiful in their own way.
Under God's heaven, the world's gonna find the way."

You really need to get your head out of the sand and start thinking like an adult human. Stop getting your "news" from Village Voice and Rolling Stone and MSNBC and start embracing truth over personality.

So according to the Reuters article, Soros gave a bunch of money ($3.5 mil) to a nonprofit group called the Tides Center from 2007-09. During that period the Tides Center donated a relatively small amount of money ($25,000) to Adbuters, a nonprofit magazine with a relatively small circulation. A couple years later, Adbusters created a poster calling on people to occupy Wall Street on September 17. A few hundred people heeded that call, showed up, and didn’t leave.

It could have ended there. But more people started to pay attention (including the mass media and politicians), and the movement has grown exponentially over the past few weeks, inspiring millions of supporters around the country, and OH MY GOD, IT’S NOW SO CLEAR, SOROS IS BEHIND IT ALL!

Who’s really behind the protests? The protesters, of course. It is obvious that what is driving this movement is much stronger and purer than money, and that is why it will keep thriving.

^ That's funny. That was one article, one of a dozen that I found doing a quick google search.

If you spend about half as much time doing actual research with an open mind you might be surprised by what you find. Sorros is a crook felon, and you cannot refute that. But keep defending him, you have no idea just how much it exposes you as an establishment puppet, a drone. Yup, you are asleep.

3:13 - thanks for being a typical liberal drone. For those following along, the drone cannot think his way out of a paper bag, so it has resorted to name calling. A totally appropriate tactic - for a 3rd grader.

Isn't it nappy time yet, 3:13? What time does your mommy get home today?

I don't care who Soros is and have yet to find an article that proves he has any real connection to Occupy Wall Street. That Reuters article actually researched the "secret link" between Soros and OWS, and found a very indirect one.

I have been following all of the activities downtown, and the threads on here, and I have not seen anything of substance proposed by the protestors or their affiliates. I fail to see that they know why they are there, in that they seem to each have their own reasons which run from simple classist hatred to personal vendettas to anti war. It all sounds like typical liberal bellyaching to me, and I fail to see anything here that the Tea Party has not already done, and more effectively.

Organized labor and the nutty leftist ACORN types are more deeply involved in this than Soros is. I have no doubt that the Soros piggy bank touches groups who are engaged, but he didn't become one of the richest men in the world by financing incoherent train wrecks like this.

Soros. ACORN. Labor. Liberal. Class warfare. We could make a drinking game out of these threads. My personal favorite is when our right-wing troll tells us to do some research and have an open mind. Maybe we should research Wall Street campaign contributions and the connections between Wall Street and the Obama Administration. Or we could do some research on how the only thing both parties will support openly is job-killing "free trade" agreements that benefit the 1%. That would be a good time. And it would prove the pointlessness of engaging in the totally fixed political process. That's why we're out there.

One also cannot expect to have an intelligent discussion with one who uses nontransitive verbs like reason as though they could be used as transitive verbs, or who uses the third person plural pronoun in place of the singular. It hurts the brain.

3. Tax policy. The 1% benefit from defunding the government. Their next target is the social safety net.

4. Media. Corporations control all major media. Their narrative of Republican vs. Democrat, conservative vs. liberal, dominates the public consciousness.

5. Environment. The 1% benefit from complete disregard for the health of the planet we all have to live on.

6. Education. The 1% benefit from a poorly educated population that is ill-equipped to challenge its power.

The end result? 1% of the public does very well. The rest of us fight over the scraps, while half support the myth of "job creators" and "personal responsibility" and the others fight over gay marriage or some other flavor of the week.

We can never pay down $14++++ trillion by cutting social security. We can never pay down that much with higher income taxes. We can't grow our way out of these debts. We can never regain a healthy and engaged middle class until problems 1 and 2 are addressed.

This is not even to mention health care and labor issues. Of course we can't afford those things. Or, we can only afford health care as long as someone is raking in billions in profit, and labor, well, fuck labor, morons, get back on the lines and be happy to have a job.

"One also cannot expect to have an intelligent discussion with one who uses nontransitive verbs like reason as though they could be used as transitive verbs, or who uses the third person plural pronoun in place of the singular. It hurts the brain."

Heh. Nice comeback. I wonder if you realize that the line - frequently attributed to Mark Twain, though that may be apocryphal - is a standard one among evangelical atheists.

1:21 10/13)- You mean like Limbaugh? The rabid drug addict who once said that all drug addicts should be locked up for life. But when he became one that no longer applied? Come back when you have something with more substance and not just something cut and pasted from a conservative website google search. Child...

We can never pay down that much with higher income taxes. We can't grow our way out of these debts. We can never regain a healthy and engaged middle class until problems 1 and 2 are addressed. sazkove kancelare